DANA Credentialling Survey Results

1. DANA Credentialling Survey Results

3. NO • I have seen what has occurred to Mental Health Nurses. Their college pays more attention to credentialling rather than the grass roots professional issues. Probably because it has become a cash cow for their college! Also in QLD and the federal MHNIP nurses can’t be employed now unless they buy a credential from their college. This is not voluntary and NOT what I want for DANA • There is a flipside to credentialling because it limits the number of people who can work in the field making it difficult to recruit. As long as credentialling is not compulsory to working in AOD then it is OK. While I would encourage all people who work in AOD to be credentialed I don't think it should be subject of employment. • Of the four credentialing criteria that are suggested three are covered by the new national registration requirements i.e. recency of practice; education requirements; continuing professional development. • I think that Drug and Alcohol nurses are already credentialled via their specific post graduate tertiary qualifications and continuing education. I think legislation should protect the title "Drug and Alcohol Clinician" and be linked to post graduate tertiary qualifications. • There are a lack of Drug and Alcohol Nurses in Australia and New Zealand. We need more education in Drug and Alcohol Nursing and a greater increase in numbers before we start imposing strictures upon our population base. Having further bureaucratic obligations in addition to those imposed by AHPRA will not further the cause of Drug and Alcohol Nursing. We need more education and more people drawn into the profession. • I feel this is just another money making scheme that only benefits the organisation and not the individual Do You Consider a Credentialling Program for Drug and Alcohol Nurses as Being Important?

4. YES • It would demonstrate that my practice is current, competent and in line with best practice standards; ultimately aiming to improve outcomes for clients. • Can be recognition for experience and ongoing training • This is an important process but after speaking to peers I think we should be mindful of the fact that many nurses have been "put off" from applying for credentialling in other fields because of the shear amount of paper work! I also believe that training/education is essential but the cost and access to appropriate courses is problematic for many nurses. • Recognition of service and if transferring to other jobs in the same sector will assist in validation of service • Standardisation, promotion of best practice and continuing education • As with mental health, credentialling will enable a national standard to be maintained and let others know you have attained a standard to practice. • Credentialling can serve to promote career advancement, open up employment prospects and signal that you are a leader in your specialty area of nursing. • To set a standard. Offer members somewhere to head. Keep up with the College of MHN. Use the College's list of activities as a good starting point professional recognition • After 25yrs in A&D I still believe that our clients are a mix of Medical as well as MH and dependence issues. It is important to be able to identify levels of experience within the field of drug and alcohol for career advancement and for financial reward. Having credentials in an area often validates the work that is being done by the professional. It will also lead to standardise care and delivery. It unites a group of people who can then use this platform to lobby for more support in the sector. Do You Consider a Credentialling Program for Drug and Alcohol Nurses as Being Important?

5. YES • To identify and qualify what we do • Uniform standards and specialty recognition for Drug and Alcohol Nurses. • This could give weight to the years of experience that some members in the field have. If one is credentialled in another field could that be accounted for in the DANA credentialling. • Provide recognition and substantiation of knowledge and skills. • This is now important for many specialist nursing groups It can complement the DANA Standards. • May assist with rural areas to attract D&A nurses to shared-care models with GPs Develop further clinical leadership within services.  • For professional recognition for individual nurses; for employers; to attract nurses into specialty. • It would provide a professional platform and deem D&A nurses as having a standard. • Professional Recognition. Improved Clinical decision making. Identifying alcohol and drug addiction as a serious mental illness which can be just as debilitating as schizophrenia and other mental health disorders. Improved measurability of professional and clinical standards. • It provides a level of professionalism and perhaps confidence in the wider community that a certain level of knowledge has been obtained. • With the changes in funding/ federal funding models it is important to be recognised. • This will enhance recognition for the specialist care that D&A patients require. Supports the development of specialty training and education for this field of nursing. • Drug and Alcohol Nurses work with complex clients, who mainly have a dual diagnosis. Do You Consider a Credentialling Program for Drug and Alcohol Nurses as Being Important?

6. YES • I believe that evidence based practice is a most important part of one's ongoing training and expertise. Credentialling provides this scope thereby ensuring members are kept up to date with best practice so enabling them to support their clients more proactively • Fills a gap in standardising training. Professional development tool. • Drug and Alcohol is for me one of the most important areas of nursing because the way drugs and alcohol affect the life of people. If there were no treatment for them the only place they will end up is in goal or dead. • Enhances our professional identity • Consistency and recognition of best of practice across Australia • As a Credentialled Mental Health Nurse, who also specialises in D&A, I can see many benefits. The first is that you have recognition for your speciality and also because this will open many doors for the specialist. One of the benefits may be, to achieve funding from Medicare to work independently as a D&A Counsellor under the ATAPS scheme. •  Extremely important in these times of change in the public health system. Many of the D&A areas are being swallowed up by Mental Health and we need to make ourselves stand out as specialist D&A practitioners. I think that offering this program would help DANA grow as a peak body as well. It is great to be able to offer experienced D&A nurses some sort of recognition for their knowledge and expertise even if they don't have the formal qualifications through academic achievements as well. Do You Consider a Credentialling Program for Drug and Alcohol Nurses as Being Important?

7. NO • We need to support recognition via National Registration not create something separate • I hold post graduate in counselling, masters in research and evaluation and grad cert in research and evaluation. I continually update my knowledge and participate in continuous quality improvement and deliver sustainable projects. Credentialling will be on top of what I have to do. I am already ensuring that my annual 20 hours PD includes AOD. • Currently I don't see the need for this, particularly if it's voluntary. Nursing is already so regulated. • A big waste of time and energy. The draft set of standards are far too general or generic in nature and just a lot of bureaucratic and academic speak. • Anyone can be "credentialled" by ticking off basic skills. More paperwork and expense • I am also a mental health nurse. Prior to disastrous decisions by the Australian College of Mental Health Nursing, I was a Registered Psychiatric Nurse in South Australia. And proud of it. The College of Mental Health Nursing decided not to have a separate register for mental health nurses and substituted Credentialling within the College. Midwives continue to have a separate registration. • Credentialling for mental health nurses was supposed to differentiate registered nurses from those with special qualifications in mental health nursing. Credentialling for mental health nurses has not been effective. Employers take absolutely no notice of whether one is a credentialled mental health nurse or a registered nurse with a qualification in mental health. If Credentialling has not worked for Mental Health Nurses (which have a much larger population) why would it be effective for Drug and Alcohol Nursing? • My nursing career will end over the next 10 years. Do You Consider that a Credentialling Program Would be of Benefit to You?

8. YES • Yes, it would help to maintain currency of drug and alcohol nursing, demonstrate my professionalism and gain professional recognition in the workplace. • This process may lift the profile of D&A nurses thus encouraging other nurses to commit to the process. • By being recognises as a credentialed member of this field of service would contribute to CPD. • I doubt I would meet the criterion because I don’t clinically work in the Drug & Alcohol field, but in mental health. • This will enable me to offer my patients assurance that my practice is current and I have attained a nationally recognised standard. • Importantly, credentialling would allow us to be accountable for my own professional standards through self regulation of our my specialty area of nursing. • Maybe not sure • Can see a need for specialists in GP and other OP clinics as there is very few IP beds specifically for withdrawal management. • Validation and future employment prospects. • Need to be all on the same page. • The MH umbrella does not fit the requirements of DAN • Have worked in the field for over 20 years. Numerous qualifications. • I am unsure though as I am a professor and my role is research Do You Consider that a Credentialling Program Would be of Benefit to You?

9. YES • Would assist competency-based professional development of pub health services, provide high level consistency of role across large services • Would benefit in terms of encouraging ongoing professional development • Depending on time frame etc • Medical and Nursing peers in D&A sometimes don't see your knowledge and skills until they know you, by having a credentialling program provides them with a set of pre-existing knowledge. • Acceptance amongst Peers. Will help to more proactive in multi disciplinary health care delivery. • Provide professional standing amongst peers and patients. • Direction for professional studies and possibly better professional recognition. • Provides a clear career pathway and opportunities for research and other endeavours within this specialty area of nursing. Provides a workforce benchmark for employment into speciality areas. • Increase my confidence and capacity to practice safely. • It is important for consumers to be aware that the nurse looking after them has specialised skills and knowledge • As a mental health nurse providing inpatient psycho-education programs I am finding that a majority of our clients have in fact dual diagnosis. Your program would provide me with additional specialist skill base/broader network of colleagues to discuss more detailed evidence based practice scenarios and hopefully provide that "leading edge" approach to treatment/mget of clients • Not in a direct client care role. Do You Consider that a Credentialling Program Would be of Benefit to You?

10. YES • Sets training goals for me that will match my chorts skills and development needs • When I was younger yes, now I am closed to my retirement age and looking forward to it. • Would help professionally and possibly be favourable for prospective employers • Recognition of being accepted as working in a specialist area • Because that is one of my areas of speciality, I believe that it will not only provide recognition of that, but provide me with ongoing support and opportunities in this area. • It would help prove that I am a specialist nurse with specialist skills and an advanced practitioner in my field. It would help me look attractive to employers if I am applying for a new position as a D&A nurse. Do You Consider that a Credentialling Program Would be of Benefit to You?

11. From those against the concept… • Why are we even considering this? I think it would be a distraction and even have the potential to create a sense of elitism, thats not what we are about • Why make more hoops for nurses to jump through? Already so regulated and defined, need to do 20 hours/year of ongoing Continuing Professional Development, ongoing study, please don't make it harder for ATOD nurses • I would not be interested in participating. Sustaining any program over time and keeping any set of standards contemporary would be difficult. • This will be a lot of talk and a lot of meetings. The process by which Drug and Alcohol Nurses become credentialled will be laborious and require much paper shuffling. And it will amount to little. • You claim it will be voluntary, Do you foresee this being mandatory for AOD nurses in the future? Why must one be a member of DANA to get this at a discounted rate? I feel it should be equal for all. Same cost for every applicant. Before committing to participate, what specific questions would you like answered?

12. From those in favour of the concept… • Will there be more workshops , and Seminars in New Zealand? • How do you intend to do this and how will it be implemented to state nurses through the health service? • None at this stage as have read email which has answered my questions thus far • How long it will take to complete, how often it needs to be undertaken, how much it is going to cost. • How Credentialling will benefit nurses whom specialise in Drug and Alcohol Treatment • What are the professional benefits for a credentialed nurse? Do we intend to suggest that only credentialled nurses should be employed in the field? • What are the requirements to being credentialled, does one have to have specific qualifications or is years of practice sufficient? • An understanding of the work involved, the content and structure of the credentialling process • what will the award be titled? - will the Credential be recognised by DoHA or another govt agency for private work? - will the credential allow people to apply to work in programs as specialist A&D nurses? - will there be a credential for ENs? - will DANA produce prof development activities for cred nurses only? • Will overseas qualifications be recognised. • The criteria needs to be clear and unambiguous. ACMHN changed their early last year and have left in hospital based training certificate, then say a Diploma is a minimum, confusing Before committing to participate, what specific questions would you like answered?

13. From those in favour of the concept… • After a nurse credentialled, will this be able to be used to gain weight to restructure positions with the current employer? • What the process is and who will determine who is credentialled. What qualifications are needed. • How will a credentialled AOD Nurse be identified by peers and colleagues to ensure recognition? • What will be involved? Will it be available over distance? • How long and involved the process would be? • Length of time and cost • How to implement Drug and Alcohol components as compulsory into the curriculum for nurses • Understand the processes involved and ability to obtain credits needed for practice in this field. • How will the credentiallers be selected. Who will determine their credentials. • How has this benefitted other nursing specialists and what improvements would they suggest • If GPs employ us can the GP get Medicare fee to have clients see us, as mental health credentialled nurses do. • How lengthy and how time consuming will the process be? The process for mental health nurse credentialling is very daunting. • The process and cost . • Will there be levels & how will they be determined? • How will we campaign and or advertise that we are now credentialled? DANA / APSAD and other conferences. Before committing to participate, what specific questions would you like answered?

14. From those in favour of the concept… • After a nurse credentialled, will this be able to be used to gain weight to restructure positions with the current employer? • What the process is and who will determine who is credentialled. What qualifications are needed. • How will a credentialled AOD Nurse be identified by peers and colleagues to ensure recognition? • What will be involved? Will it be available over distance? • How long and involved the process would be? • Length of time and cost • How to implement Drug and Alcohol components as compulsory into the curriculum for nurses • Understand the processes involved and ability to obtain credits needed for practice in this field. • How will the credentiallers be selected. Who will determine their credentials. • How has this benefitted other nursing specialists and what improvements would they suggest • If GPs employ us can the GP get Medicare fee to have clients see us, as mental health credentialled nurses do. • How lengthy and how time consuming will the process be? The process for mental health nurse credentialling is very daunting. • The process and cost . • Will there be levels & how will they be determined? • How will we campaign and or advertise that we are now credentialled? DANA / APSAD and other conferences. Before committing to participate, what specific questions would you like answered?

15. From those in favour of the concept… • The costs involved. The process of credentialing. (making it a user friendly rather than and exhaustive process). • Credentialling committees need to sit apart from but be accountable to the DANA Exec Committee. • What does DANA see as the governance arrangement it would implement? Fees for credentialling for members and non members should be determined by how long • The cost of the program, how long credentialling will be for, who is ascertaining the level required • Outline of the program. The cost and time period of the program • Cost, Time commitment, Full understanding of expectations, Accessibility to any extra study or experience for rural nurses. • What planning has DANA in place to ensure that their committee to undertake the process will be professional and coherent when an application is being researched and evaluated? • Cost involved Timeframe Available support • Time and cost to prepare, What will it give me as far as workforce development opportunities within NSW Health, if any? Will I need to consider further study requirements, eg Masters Degree etc? • Mainly from a practical point of view I would need to understand the process and what I need to undertake, the steps I guess. I don't work in a clinical role currently but wish to maintain my confidence to practice. • I think it should be voluntary, and not related to employment outcomes. Before committing to participate, what specific questions would you like answered?

16. From those in favour of the concept… • Our time as mental health nurses is already stretched to the "limit" and I am constantly seeking ways to be proactive in delivering a best practice approach to care...How will the DANA program assist me with this goal? • What are the requirements? • I have no specific questions at this time. I have been to information session on this topic • Exactly what will it give me or is the process idealistic • Would this be like auditing a nurse in the area of AOD? • How would the assessment process occur? Who would the assessor be? How would this be determined given that no one within DANA is currently credentialed? • would the credentialing program provide access to Medicare under mental health programs would it be the equivalent of mental health can it establish the standards that all must have inclusive of mental health so that mental health credentialed nurses must be credentialed under drug and alcohol to work in dual diagnosis and deliver drug treatment / programs • That the Investigatory/Implementing Team will explore the many avenues of opportunity that will be available; as well as extended support and Supervision. • No further questions at this stage. Several have been raised which I have noted down during the few presentations that we have already run through DANA networks. Before committing to participate, what specific questions would you like answered?